Asked by: Jonathan Reynolds (Labour (Co-op) - Stalybridge and Hyde)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of requests for an Education, Health and Care Plan were completed by local authorities in England and Wales in 2019 within the 20 weeks guideline.
Answered by Michelle Donelan
In 2018, 60% of new education, health and care plans were issued within 20 weeks.
The latest data available corresponds to the 2018 calendar year and covers England only. This is available in the National Statistics release ‘Statements of SEN and EHC plans’, which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statements-of-sen-and-ehc-plans-england-2019.
As part of the cross government special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) review, we are reviewing the system to make sure it is delivering the best start in life for all children and young people with SEND.
Asked by: Jonathan Reynolds (Labour (Co-op) - Stalybridge and Hyde)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps are being taken to increase recruitment levels of science teachers.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Recruiting science teachers is a top priority for the Government. The Department has put in place a range of measures, including increased generous bursaries, worth up to £26,000 for physics, biology and chemistry to encourage even more talented individuals into teaching. Our prestigious scholarship scheme will also continue, offering a package of tailored support and £28,000 tax-free for scholars in physics, chemistry and computer science.
The Department is also testing new financial incentives to boost recruitment and retention, which include a student loan reimbursement pilot for science teachers in 25 local authorities that are most in need. Around 1,700 science teachers a year will be eligible for this pilot scheme.
In addition to this, the Department has developed a number of further initiatives to encourage more science specialists into initial teacher training (ITT). These include targeted marketing campaigns; providing support to potential science ITT applicants to increase the proportion of successful applications; and a programme to recruit high calibre post-doctoral researchers who have detailed subject knowledge and a passion to teach physics in the schools where they are most needed.
The new National Mathematics and Physics school-centred ITT plans to offer high quality teacher training, in collaboration with partner schools across the country and Buckingham University, led by maths and physics experts in partnership with the Institute of Physics and Mathematical Association.
The Department provides the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics international Teacher Recruitment Programme to support state-funded secondary schools in England with recruiting to physics vacancies. Through this programme, schools can recruit qualified teachers from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the USA to teach physics.
Asked by: Jonathan Reynolds (Labour (Co-op) - Stalybridge and Hyde)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what consideration he has given to refund tuition fees to students whose lectures are cancelled as a result of strike action by lecturers.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
Higher education (HE) providers are autonomous institutions. Responsibility for handling student complaints, in the first instance, is a matter for the relevant HE provider.
In addition, HE providers have responsibilities under consumer law, and the obligation for meeting these lies with the individual HE providers. The Competition and Markets Authority has produced guidance for providers on how they can meet their responsibilities under consumer law. This includes ensuring students are provided with clear and transparent terms and conditions and providers have accessible, clear and fair complaints procedures.
Asked by: Jonathan Reynolds (Labour (Co-op) - Stalybridge and Hyde)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the 30 hours a week free childcare entitlement for working parents to student midwives and nurses who work in the public sector as part of their courses.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
Eligibility for 30 hours for student midwives and nurses was carefully considered during the passage of the Childcare Act. As student nurses are treated as supernumerary, it follows that any time spent on placements will not count as paid work for the purposes of the extended entitlement. Student nurses will, however, be able to access a range of other support with their childcare costs including an additional payment of £1,000 each year for students with child dependents to reflect that students undertaking clinical placements may have higher childcare costs than the wider student population. More information on the range of support available can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/plans-for-changing-healthcare-education-funding)
Student parents who work in addition to their studies and meet the income requirements will be eligible for the additional hours. All student parents, (including student midwives and nurses) will also continue to benefit from the existing universal 15 hours of free early education for all three- and four-year-olds. They may also be entitled to 15 hours of free early education for two-year-old children.